Newfoundland Puppies ...

are cute, adorable, fun, rewarding and a host of other things - but make a poor choice in buying a puppy and your newfie could have a miserable time with health or temperament issues which can lead to huge expense and a lot of heartache.

Buying your puppy from a reputable breeder who has a genuine commitment to the breed dramatically improves your chances of having a happy, healthy dog who conforms to the breed type.

Getting the right start ...

in life begins even before conception by the breeders selection of the parents. Choosing a suitable sire and dam for breeding is a painstaking process which involves studying pedigrees for suitability, checking the health tests and scores of BOTH potential parents and assessing temperaments as well as breed conformation.

Rearing a litter of Newfoundland puppies is hard work and requires skill, patience and dedication - a good breeders intention is to produce strong, healthy, well socialised puppies and then to find them loving forever homes.

The purpose of this web site is to put potential Newfoundland puppy buyers in touch with reputable and recognised breeders who meet the Northern Newfoundland Club's (NNC) strict criteria to be included here. We hope it will assist in steering puppy buyers away from the backstreet breeders and puppy farmers whose interest in breeding is primarily for financial reward and who pay little or no attention to the health or well-being of the puppies or their parents.

We would advise buyers to steer clear of buying puppies from general online puppy sites, where it may be impossible to check the health test documentation of the parents or ascertain how the puppies are being raised by the breeder.

If you are thinking of buying a Newfoundland then we recommend that you read this informative article first Article (as an image) or Article (pdf). This article has been provided with kind permission of David Gibson.

Some thoughts from our breeders and NNC members:

I wish that this web site had been around when I was looking for my first Newfie, but I was one of the lucky ones that bought from reputable breeders. 20 years on and that couple are still firm friends and always a source of information and advice for me. –Jacqui Woodhall (Bearhugs), Wolverhampton

Many of the dogs that come into Welfare were bred by puppy farmers, and a significant number have health or temperament problems that Welfare needs to resolve. Some puppy farmers do not keep proper breeding records, which increases the risk of inbreeding and this can result in horrific physical deformities, mobility problems, uncertain temperaments or aggression. In addition, puppy farmers don't routinely carry out health checks on their breeding stock, which means the puppies are more likely to be carrying genetic tendencies to heart problems, hip dysplasia and deformed elbows. We see all these problems in Welfare, and they are almost always in dogs from puppy farms.–Ros Dyer, NNC Welfare Officer

If you choose your breeder wisely you will have a friend for life, someone who will always be on the end of a phone to help with any of your queries. This can be a lifeline in an emergency. Expect a caring breeder to ask you lots of questions and follow up on the welfare of their dogs throughout their lives. A caring breeder does not put money first - it is the welfare of the dog that is paramount. A reputable breeder will show you all the health test results ( hip scores, elbow scores, heart testing by echo Doppler and cystinuria checks). Without these do not buy a puppy.–Jill Barker, Hon. Secretary